Common mistakes made by Paranormal investigators and misconceptions promoted on TV shows:

There are more paranormal teams out there than ever before and more reality shows on TV about the paranormal, than you can shake a stick at. I am amazed when I watch some of these shows or listen to some of these paranormal investigators, at the mistaken ideas and outdated concepts that they adhere to. In 33 years in the field ,I have learned many, many things. Of course the mainstream para fans want to believe what their TV icons tell them, so most will not consider the things I am about to list here. I am going to share this information anyway, for those who are serious about learning. If you are willing to consider some possibilities and theories born of more hours in the field, and experience with hauntings, than this article is going to be very informative for you. First I am going to try and clear up some of the most common misconceptions promoted in the paranormal field:

1. Everything that growls is not an evil spirit or a demon. Spirits will make scary sounds for the express purpose of scaring you. Human spirits do this all the time, and even animal spirits exist that do this. Usually the growling is to get a reaction of fear, which it does about 80 percent of the time, as people assume it is a demon or evil spirit.

2. Not everything that appears as a black shadow or black mass is an evil entity, come to take your soul. The black shadow, and the black mass are simply stages of spirit manifestation. Your own Mother's spirit could come by to visit and cause you to see such a thing. Spirits and entities in general appear many times as black shadows, masses and forms, under the right conditions.

3. EVPS sometimes sound scary or spooky because of the way they come through on our devices. Voices become distorted, and often sound raspy, deep, or just plain spooky. Not all evps that sound evil are evil. Only a trained person who is used to working with evps, and knows the sounds of certain types of entities can determine if a spirit voice means trouble. Also remember, many spirits are desperate to be heard to even angry and frustrated so they may sound less than happy or patient sometimes.

4. High EMF fields have never been proven to be a product of spirit manifestation. This is just a theory favored by the current paranormal craze, and fostered by those who sell these EMF meters. Do not judge a place haunted because of EMF readings.

5. The word bank style computerized spirit communication devices such as the Ovilus and the Puck are not reliable and shoot out random words from their word banks. They are expensive useless toys that spirits do not use, { but living people make a lot of money selling } so don't waste your money. Just rely on your digital voice recorders for best results.

6. Spirits are everywhere and when you put out a call usually someone will answer, via EVP, so even EVPS do not necessarily mean a place is haunted. The amount and the nature of the EVPS will tell the tale, but don't jump to conclusions just because you got an EVP.

7. A poltergeist is not some specific type of spirit or entity, and certainly not the result of telekinetic children with angst. The type of activity attributed to a "poltergeist" which in German means "Noisy Ghost", usually is just that. A spirit, usually a human spirit, that likes to stir things up by causing repetitive and severe physical activity such as knocking and closing cabinet doors etc. Any spirit can be a poltergeist if it chooses to act like one. This term is outdated and misleading to many people.

8. Spirits that physically attack, are not necessarily "demons". Most spirits can pull off an attack on a living person, if they have enough energy available to them, including human spirits.Scratches, burning sensations, the feeling of electricity going through you, making your hair stand up, hitting, pushing, hair pulling, can all be caused by human spirits and many others. A human ghost can push you, hit you, and affect you in many ways. I have seen it again and again. This idea that only demons can do this is simply a product of religious fear and inexperience in the field. Also please remember that everyone gets the feeling of the hair standing up, on the back of their necks, when they are scared or nervous, and that this alone, is not a reliable indicator of spirit presence, nor is it always a physical interaction by a spirit. It may very well be the standard reaction of a person expecting to see or experience a ghost ,who is uneasy and reacting accordingly.

9. Not all spirits create cold spots, some create intense heat , and some do not affect the air around us at all.

10. Last, I will repeat this one more time...Please forget about the orbs being a sign of hauntings. They are everywhere and in no way should serve as evidence of a haunting. Please folks, get over the orbs and move on to more impressive and reliable evidence. Unless the orb is on video and can be seen moving in a cognizant pattern, chances are it does not mean much.

NOW SOME SIMPLE THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND:

Spirits are everywhere and travel around everywhere, passing through our homes in the process from time to time. I can go into just about any house and put out a call and get evps. That does not mean the home owners are haunted folks. Just about everyone at some time in their life will see a shadow in their home or hear a noise that is out of place, this also does not mean they are being haunted.

Dust and humidity will pretty much assure, that you will eventually get an orb photo in your home or someone else's home. In our modern time the living are much more likely to try and communicate and interact with the spirit world than the other way around, as it has become the latest fad and hobby to many people.

People absentmindedly, misplace objects more than spirits move or take objects.

Animals react to sounds that we can not hear, both spirit sounds, and distant sounds of the natural world. Dogs bark seemingly at nothing, but may actually be hearing your neighbor next door, going about his normal routine, or a car coming down the road, or a rat in the wall. Not every animal is reacting to a ghost when they do these things.

For everyone who thinks they are haunted, usually, only about 7 percent really are having a paranormal experience.

People die in their homes all the time. Not every home where there was a death, becomes haunted by the deceased. Murders and suicides occur often also, but not every home where this took place is haunted either. Knowledge of these things, when they move into a place, or learning about them afterwards, tends to make people more likely to imagine paranormal activity in their homes.

About 80 percent of all hauntings are about human drama. This mean human spirits reacting to something going on in the home, or trying to get a message across. It can also come about from ghost hunting, and pissing off a spirit, or attracting a spirit who decides to stick around and feed off of the energy and attention. The other 20 percent are sometimes truly hostile, sometimes just residual, and sometimes just the product of a rift in the barrier between the planes of existence, this one and the next. Not all but about 70 percent or so, of the spirits who seek out the living and cause problems are human spirits that had issues in this life and carried them over into the next. This is why many evps are either negative or dismissive or just plain rude.

As a paranormal investigator or cleanser you are playing counselor, mediator, and pacifier a lot of the time to these spirits. Some of these spirits may even be the dregs of the spirit world who are stuck here, or wandered in after finding an open door somewhere, and are the lunatic fringe of the spirit world. You may come in contact with parasitic or predatory spirits, angry and unreasonable entities, and a host of other unpleasant "who knows whats" while pursuing paranormal investigation. With this in mind, I suggest that all ghost hunters think twice before engaging in a running course of communication with a spirit, as you never know who or what you are dealing with.